On Friday, the Wolves defeated Minnesota State, Mankato, in the second game to earn a split of their doubleheader. Northern began Saturday's twin bill on a positive note, taking a 5-3 win over the nationally-ranked Mavericks.
Mankato came back to win game two, 12-2, in a game shortened to seven innings on the 10-run rule.
According to Northern State records, the Wolves had never beaten the Mavericks in baseball before this weekend.
"Anytime you can go out and compete against a team like Mankato, that's good," said NSU coach Dean Berry. "We saw a lot of good things this weekend."
Northern trailed 2-0 in the first contest before overtaking the Mavericks with a three-run third inning. The Wolves added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings while two relief pitchers held the Mavericks to a single run over the final five innings.
"The third inning, we started to swing the bats," Berry said. "Kassidy (Gaines) was a little rocky at first, but he settled in and kept us in the game. Offensively, we did enough, but we left some guys on base."
Brent Lawrence collected three hits, including a pair of home runs, and drove in a pair of runs. Cameron Lehner also had three hits and Derek Tymesen had two, with a double for both players.
The Mavericks jumped out early in game two, tagging Northern pitchers for seven runs over the first three innings. Northern scored a pair of fifth-inning runs, but could muster only two hits against Mankato pitching.
The Wolves (9-9 overall, 2-2 NSIC) are off until Wednesday when they travel to Fayette, Iowa, to face Upper Iowa in a doubleheader, followed by a weekend four-game set at Minnesota-Crookston.
Northern State 003 011 0-5 11 1
Minnesota State, Mankato 110 010 0-3 4 1
Kassidy Gaines, John Eckstein, Adam Thompson and Buddy Traxler; Tyler Ockuly, Bryce Bellin, Chris Williams and Nolan Johnson. 2B - Northern State, Cameron Lehner, Derek Tymesen. HR - Northern State, Brent Lawrence 2; Minnesota State, Mankato, Scott Lindner.
Northern State 000 020 0- 2 2 1
Minnesota State, Mankato 052 200 3-12 8 0
Sean Winslow, Andrew Crisman and Traxler; T.J. Larson, Josh Matheson and Johnson. HR - Minnesota State, Mankato, Connor McCallum, Ben Keller.